Fastening for boots or shoes



' (No Model.) 7

W. E. BENNETT.

FASTENING FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

No. 477,923. Patented June 28, 1892.

I UNITED ST T S" PATENT ()FFICEt WALTER E. BENNETT, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS.

FA STENING FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 477,923, dated June 28,1892. Y Application filed August 28, 18 91. Serial No. 403,948. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER E; BENNETT, a citizen of the United States,residingat Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented new and useful Improvements in Fastenings for Boots orShoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved devices for closing and securing theflaps or portions of a boot or shoe adjacent the opening, the objectbeing to provide devices for the purpose indicated which are simple andinexpensive, which conduee to a greater ease and better fit upon andabout the foot of the parts of the shoe adjacent the opening thereof,and

7 otherwise to insure advantageous results, as

will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts ofand relative to the shoe, all substantially as will hereinafter morefully appear, and be set forth in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of aboot with the pres entimprovedfasten'ing devicesthereon. Figs.

2 and 3 are views illustrative of a form of bodyseparate flexible stripsor cord-like secare at their right-hand ends and at intervals secured tothe part of the vamp or upper in a line adjacent the portion overlaid bythe flap f, the flap is on its outer side near its edge at correspondingintervals provided with the said series of studs a a, each of which hastheneck under the enlarged or overhanging outermost part. The eyes 6?,formed in the left-hand ends of the strips a, are adapted when the flapis laid in place and the strips a extended across the edge thereof toengage the studs, the retention of the engagement being secured by theretractile strain or tension on the strip.

The strips are formed elastic, requiring to be somewhat stretched inorder to be carried to their engagement with the studs; and,furthermore, it is deemed desirable that the righthand ends of thestrips may be detachably connected to the boot, and therefore there isprovided, as shown, the second series of studs 9 g opposite the studs12, and the strips or have also eyes '1; in, their right-hand ends. Thelower ones of theseries of studs 9 are set moreclosely to the borders ofthe flap f, or

the other section of the shoe-top which is adjacent the opening, and theflexible and elastic strips are correspondingly provided shorter for thelower fastenings, becoming longer as they are applied higher,substantially as shown. I

In Fig. 5 the eye-formed strip is constituted by the metallic section j,which is connected to the flexible and elastic strip, the hole in saidsection comprising a greater extent at its inner area to freely passover the head of the stud, and the lesser extent at its outer area tofit the stud-neck and interlock under the head as tension is broughtupon the strip.

The utility and advantages of the present the capability for a moreclose fitting or con- 0 formation of the upper part of the boot or shoeover all portions of the instep-ankle. There are no buttons whichrequire to be reset as the shoe becomes worn and looser, for

it is the intention to provide quantitiesof the 5 eye-provided strips,which are graded or of variable lengths, shorter ones of which mayreplace those which after having been applied do not exert the desiredtension or those which have become worn, soiled,or dull in ap- 10opearance.

There is, of course, in the original applicaries of flexible and elasticstrips of varying IO lengths, each having at both ends eyes forremovable engagement with opposite pairs of the studs, substantially asdescribed.

WVALTER E. BENNETT.

VVitnseses:

AMBROSE EASTMAN. JAMES R. POWERS.

ries of permanently-attached studs, of a se-

